The present invention relates to a gymnastic pedaling apparatus, which is ingeniously simple in structure and is practically handy.
As shown in FIG. 1, a gymnastic pedaling apparatus of the prior art comprises a frame 10, two pedal rods 12, two pedals 14, and two hydraulic cylinders 16. The two pedal rods 12 are respectively pivoted to the frame 10 in such a way that they can be moved upwards and downwards. Each of the two pedal rods 12 is provided with a long slot 13 and a rotary button 15. The two pedals 14 are respectively mounted on the free ends of the two pedal rods 12. Each of the two hydraulic cylinders 16 has an upper end that is fastened to the frame 10 and a lower end that is pivoted to the long slot 13 of the pedal rod 12 and is secured in place by means of the rotary button 15. The lower end of the hydraulic cylinder 16, which is pivoted to the long slot 13, is able to slide along the long slot 13 to a desired location where it is locked securely by the rotary button 15 which can be tightened by rotating. As a result, the damping of pedaling action can be so adjusted.
The prior art gymnastic pedaling apparatus described above has two major shortcomings, which are elucidated explicitly hereinafter.
The overall construction of the prior art gymnastic pedaling apparatus is so complicated as to make the structure of its frame 10 excessively cumbersome. In addition, the cost of the two hydraulic cylinders 16 designed for damping the pedaling action is excessively high. As a result, the overall cost of making the prior art gymnastic pedaling apparatus is relatively high.
The adjustment of the damping of the prior art gymnastic pedaling apparatus is attained by adjusting the pivoting positions of the two hydraulic cylinders 16. Such adjustment can not be done at such time when the apparatus is in operation. In addition, the adjustments of the damping of the two hydraulic cylinders 16 are carried out separately, thereby often resulting in a non-uniformity of the damping of the two hydraulic cylinders 16. In other words, the body-building effect of the apparatus is undermined, in view of the fact that the user of the apparatus would have to exert different magnitudes of force on the two pedals 14.